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is it me or are designers charging too much?

i recently went around to several vbulletin skin designers/companies and most are charing minimum of $700. now im dumb founded at such a price since i think my site at its current stage will not even succeed that price of its own skin. on top of that i find it rather inflated/bloated>_> seriously one designer gave me a quote before i even said what i wanted($725!). what happened to good ol days where the price depended on what you wanted?

sry but i have to say i dont think its me, i think designers are just crazy>_> however, you can all correct me if im terribly wrong and insane

Prices online are way to cheap. Due to many webdesigners being in one place at the same time prices get deflated too much. If you went locally they might not even be able to what your asking at all.

Then of course to cheap is sometimes a good thing for those who cant afford to pay that much. That would be about the only benefit. Just hope your local people dont get smart enough to find places that webmasters hang out or we are in trouble.

Well for once I agree with Doc, personally I think prices need to go up more ... this damn "flea market" website pricing nonsense has really hurt the business and polluted the web with pathetic attempts at design, coding and implementation...

It depends on the company.
Some companies only work with high profile clients and are used to charging whatever they want.
Personally $700 seems a little steep, but I have seen people charge much more.

Well for once I agree with Doc, personally I think prices need to go up more ... this damn "flea market" website pricing nonsense has really hurt the business and polluted the web with pathetic attempts at design, coding and implementation...

Compete on quality not on price.

"A nerd who gets contacts
and a trendy hair cut is still a nerd" - Stephen Colbert on Apple Users

Honestly prices are too low. Especially online since all you need is a copy of Photoshop to be a "designer". You may think $700 is a lot, but they wouldn't be charging that much if people weren't willing to pay it. Your product is only as valuable as what someone is willing to pay for it.

If you go with a $15 designer from rent-a-coder I'm sure you'll find yourself with a crap-*** design and/or a ripped design. You might be able find some middle ground here on Sitepoint. Remember though, you get what you pay for in this industry so don't always just go for the cheapest.

700 would be about right for your average freelancer type person (or small business) - I presume you are wanting a fully coded vBulletin template? It's not that easy...

For some of the stunning vb templates you see around it's not uncommon for people to throw around a few grand to get what they need. If you don't have the skills yourself, I don't really see how you can judge.

I'm currently paying a PHP programmer $150 an hour to help me code certain parts of my app that I'm doing the design work on and its worth every penny. Paying someone more money to work less time is more beneficial than getting a project that doesn't work 100% correctly or doesn't get done at all.

I'd love to tell the electrician that he should only be charging me $25 for installing my new dishwasher too, but I'm not the one that can make that decision for him

Exactly, and as long as there are these wannabees who buy a copy (or bootleg it) of DW, get photoshop and a month later hang out a shingle proclaiming themselves a web deveoper (or designer) at Home Depot Prices we will ALL suffer!

The thing I wanted to really do (but never did) was to hold a competition at the University which I went to. The idea was to find the best Abobe Illustrator, Photoshop kid or unsung computer artists and award them a prize (say £250 for the winner) and then I could go to the winner and offer them freelance work whilst they were at Uni.

I never got the idea off the ground, but I thought it was a good idea because not only could I find the best designer around, but I could get a lot of press coverage as well and it would be a great way to give back to the University that helped me out too.

Maybe you try a variation of this idea, but this does mean you will have to get posters done, Press releases, do mock style interviews (sorta like American Idol/X-Factor) and get some certificates and photographers ready/done.

$700 is nothing for a site design, not if it's a completely bespoke design made to your exact specification. For that money, your designer is spending time consulting with you to get the spec, creating an initial design, sending you drafts, performing revisions, physically coding the template, browser testing, etc. He's also giving you the assurance of being a 'real' business, with support, guarantees, ability to meet deadlines, etc.

Expect to pay 3 or 4 times that if you come to me or my competitors. If you want the job done cheap, go to rentacoder sites and get some username on MSN messenger to rip off a design from another site, deliver the template 12 weeks late, not bother cross-browser testing and disappear off the face of the earth when you have any problems.

I'm a little tired of people coming in saying that $xxx is sooooo much money and they would never pay that much for xxx.

For a vbulletin skin, you have to consider a few things. First, there are a lot of icons and graphics to create. If the design is complex, you're talking a lot of hours to create backgrounds, gradients, buttons, etc. in the general layout. Another thing to consider is whether or not the design is unique. You're probably not taking into account that the $700 probably gets you a unique template, while the $50 templates all over the Internet are sold 1000 times.

And personally, I wouldn't even talk to you for a $700 project. You have to consider that professional web developers have a lot of expenses. I am full-time self employed, and this feeds my family and puts a roof over our head. I have an office, and have to pay rent, utilities, phone, Internet, advertising, etc.

I love how in this industry people always expect to get the next Amazon for $500. Look at what something really costs, and what it can really make. If you're just doing this site as a hobby, then maybe you should try to find a hobby web designer and pay them $100. But if you expect to make money with your website, don't expect someone to build it for you for free.

Really, I've never ever seen an advert from a webdesign company. As for webdesign schools around here, all I saw was "Learn Dreamweaver MX is 120 hours!" and when I asked whether they taught something like colour theory, design basics (such as balance and contrast), the teachers would say they don't need to teach it (which is quite true - they don't need it, as they're already earning a lot of money, but undoubtly, they should).

That way, I heard stuff like "Programming is harder than designing" (as if there's a "harder" part or as if the distinction was that clearcut), and questions like "Why would I ever pay you this if he can get it done for less than half of the price?". People don't know the difference - in fact, they might believe we use PowerPoint to make websites.

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family.
Choose washing machines, cars, tableless sites, and SEO.
Choose DIY and wondering who the f' you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose a marketing strategy. Choose your future. Choose life.

Really, I never ever saw an advert from a webdesign company. As for webdesign schools around here, all I saw was "Learn Dreamweaver MX is 120 hours!" and when I asked whether they taught something like colour theory, design basics (such as balance and contrast), the teachers would say they don't need to teach it (which is quite true - they don't need it, as they're already earning a lot of money, but undoubtly, they should).

That way, I heard stuff like "Programming is harder than designing" (as if there's a "harder" part or as if the distinction was that clearcut), and questions like "Why would I ever pay you this if he can get it done for less than half of the price?". People don't know the difference - in fact, they might believe we use PowerPoint to make websites.

My clients know the difference. They know they could have some amateur do it for $500, but they get something more when they hire me. I'm a consultant, who works with them to first determine what they need, then develop a solution to meet their objectives.

Anyone can throw up a dreamweaver website, but a lot of times that doesn't help the company (many times it actually hurts their image by portraying an unprofessional image). I get a lot of clients who have been burned by amateurs and designers who just got in web design because it was an easy buck.

My clients know the difference. They know they could have some amateur do it for $500, but they get something more when they hire me. I'm a consultant, who works with them to first determine what they need, then develop a solution to meet their objectives.

Indeed, however most people wouldn't expect this before we show us this different perspective.

There are people who barely know what they want - how can we expect them to know "how" they want it done?

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family.
Choose washing machines, cars, tableless sites, and SEO.
Choose DIY and wondering who the f' you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose a marketing strategy. Choose your future. Choose life.

People don't know the difference - in fact, they might believe we use PowerPoint to make websites.

Nah, they think we use Adobe.

Fortunately for the market today, many designers and other Internet pros are beginning to consider the number of hours it takes to complete a project and gauging their estimates by what they want to earn hourly and how many hours a project will take to complete. Although that may seem to make prices high to you, you can also use this method in choosing a professional.

Instead of just asking how much, also ask how many hours the professional estimates it will take to complete your project. Then divide the number of hours by the price quote. If you think the result is too high for your project, move on to find a pro who will complete your project within your price range.

In addition, when searching for a provider, be specific in the details you need created and get a total quote on your project instead of just an "I can do it for (amount). This will help ensure that you contract to get all the work done instead of just the main part of the project. You may have to pay a nominal consultation fee for a decent quote, but you'll find that it's worth your while to have it in hand.

Linda Jenkinson"Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean." ~Unknown